A Christmas Parallel
by Mslead-Kytrin
Summary: Christmas is always unpredictable. Especially when it involves demon dragons who have never celebrated it. Still, Lucy wasn't going to complain. The chaos just sort of added to the charm. Oneshot. Set in the Parallels universe.


_Hey guys! Kytrin here! Mslead and I decided that since we weren't actively posting a story currently (the long ones are being held until things calm down a bit more schedule-wise), we would treat you to some gooey Nalu Christmas goodness._

 _This particular oneshot is set in the Parallels universe between the last chapter of Parallels and the epilogue. You don't really have to have read it to read this one, but you might miss a reference or two if you're unfamiliar with it. Other than that, please enjoy, and I hope you guys all have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, or whatever it is you celebrate! If you're going to be traveling, please stay safe! Love you guys!_

* * *

Lucy softly hummed a Christmas carol to herself as she poured the ingredients for some mulled cider into the crockpot. It was an import from her homeworld of course. Fiore didn't have crockpots as far as she could tell. It seemed the art of slow cooking this way hadn't quite caught on. Though now that they knew her homeworld's appliances seemed to work alright with only a few tweaks courtesy of Jellal she suspected there would be a new market opening soon.

Privately, she thought it was kind of hilarious that a wizard of Jellal's caliber would have picked up tinkering with electronics of all things as a hobby, but he seemed to enjoy it. And they certainly enjoyed the fruits of his labor.

She smiled in satisfaction as she secured the lid and set the contents to low. Perfect. All that was needed now was for the food to finish. Hopefully _before_ Natsu and Happy tried to eat it prematurely. Again.

She rolled her eyes a little and turned to check on the contents of the oven only to freeze as she heard a yelp and then a thump followed by a crash in the other room.

"Natsu?" She called, wary of just walking into whatever chaos he'd managed this time, "Is everything alright in there?"

There was a slight pause, which made her instantly more suspicious, "Oh... yeah everything's great Lucy!"

Lucy narrowed her eyes as she heard Happy burst into laughter, and stalked out just in time to hear Natsu hiss, "Traitor!"

She was hardly listening at that point though. She was too riveted by the sight of Natsu somehow completely tangled up in the Christmas lights he was supposed to be putting on the gigantic tree he'd stuffed into their apartment.

He hobbled on one foot, poorly balanced and swaying, but a cheeky smile widened his face. Only by the slight twitch under his eye could she tell he was trying not to shift in guilt.

"String lights weren't meant to be a fire hazard," Lucy smirked at her helplessly captured dragon and moved over to tug the lights from around his shoulders, "And yet I can't help but think you're going to burn our apartment down before we move into the nest."

"It's Christmas Lucy. We gotta go big!" Natsu protested, his smile flashing even wider as his wirey prison began to loosen.

Lucy just hummed in acknowledgement of his words, but secretly suspected if he had his way they would be smothered in tinsel up to their necks.

Not that she particularly minded his enthusiasm. This would be her first Christmas to celebrate with someone since her parents died, and she had been both surprised and pleased to find that her new family celebrated it as well.

She hadn't thought Natsu would be so into a human holiday either, but it seemed he was even more excited than she was.

Perhaps it had something to do with it being his first big holiday since the battle with Zeref. Or maybe it was just the theme of the holiday that got him. She wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Dragons were big on family after all.

Whatever the reason she wasn't going to argue with it. Though she might try to curb some of his more exuberant tendencies.

Her lips twitched in bemusement at the idea, earning a slightly confused look from Natsu himself. She just shook her head as she finished untangling him and leaned up to give him a kiss.

"Nothing." She smiled, "Just you being you."

Natsu's confusion didn't lessen any, but she could see the moment he shrugged it off as not being important as he grinned happily back at her.

"Ewwwwwwwwww! Are you two gonna get mushy again?"

Lucy groaned a little and dropped her face in her hand while Natsu roared with laughter.

"Probably little buddy!" He cackled, "You know how weird we can get!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and bent to gather the lights, "Yeah, yeah... we're weird because we're a couple." She huffed and flashed both males a grin, "Now how about I show you the _right_ way to decorate a tree?"

Natsu snorted outright at that and rolled his eyes, but set his hand at the small of Lucy's back anyway.

"Like there's a right way to decorate a tree," He smiled at her, his green eyes bright with happiness.

"Yeah. Like there's a right way for us to get a tree," Lucy pointed up, gesturing to the way the top of tree was bent sideways and dragging across the ceiling.

She didn't actually mind the crooked tree taking up most of the room in their tiny living space. It kind of suited them.

"It had to be the best tree," Natsu insisted, still stubbornly clinging on to the idea that bigger, in this case, was better.

"Well then maybe I can teach you a thing or three," Lucy winked at him and settled herself down to work. She guided him over to the top of the tree, patting his thick shoulder until he got the picture and lifted her up.

She laughed with him as she sat on his arm, high enough to begin weaving the lights on the branches. Happy floated to the other side, helping her catch the wires where she couldn't reach.

A tune once more lifted from her lips as they worked.

Natsu grinned as he held his queen up and watched her 'educate' him. In truth, he didn't really care how the tree was decorated. It was theirs and they were decorating it together, and that alone made it gorgeous no matter what it ultimately looked like. Though, he had to admit, Lucy did seem to have the whole idea down to an art.

"Where'd you learn to decorate these things like that?" He asked curiously as they moved on from the many lights he'd gotten to garland.

"My mom taught me." Lucy grinned back, "We used to take a whole day off and decorate the family room ourselves. The tree, garlands, stockings... all of it. There were always Christmas carols playing, and the servants made sure we never ran out of snacks. I loved it."

Natsu felt his heart ache a little at the obviously happy memories that hadn't happened in far too long, but he immediately forgot the ache when she smiled down at him.

"Maybe once the nest is built we can start a tradition like that with the others? We have that big common room near the communal kitchens... I bet it would fit the biggest tree you can find!"

Natsu's heart thumped at the idea of such an activity for the whole nest, and he silently vowed to make sure the nest was ready in time for next year as he gently lowered her back to the ground, "That sounds great Luce!"

Lucy smiled back at him as she handed him a box of ornaments, "Alright... now's the fun part! Pick a spot and start hanging! Just don't leave any gaps!"

Unfortunately, despite the relatively simple instructions, Natsu took to the task with the enthusiasm that he normally saved for fighting. He attacked the tree with the colorful baubles, plunging his arm elbow deep into its boughs. It left some branches bent and ornaments clumped in strange places, but that didn't slow them down one bit. He and Happy had taken one look at one another and immediately started a competition to see who could hang stuff the fastest.

Lucy watched the sudden decorating blitzkreig in stunned awe for a total of ten minutes before she realized the tree was going to look like a pile of Christmas vomit if she didn't do something. She quickly angled herself in front of the two, and set her hands on her hips and sent them a quaking look.

Natsu quickly dropped the armful of ornaments he had been getting ready to deface the tree with under the force of her glare, and Happy lost some of his momentum by a few stray candy canes landing on his fluffy head.

"Wendy gave us these decorations, so we have to put them up carefully!" Lucy lectured, "Slow and one at a time! Do you get it?" Lucy took a ball from Natsu, using a delicate touch to hang it from the branch.

"Oh man, this will take forever," Natsu hissed to Happy.

"Aye." Happy agreed mournfully only to squeak a little under the glare Lucy shot him.

"You two would've destroyed the tree at the rate you were going." She huffed, "I'd like it to look as nice as possible for as long as possible thanks."

Natsu glanced at Happy and shrugged, "Might as well do it her way." He replied and grinned cheekily at the look she shot him.

He leaned over to steal a kiss from her before spinning away to flick on the radio. The Christmas music was somewhat different from Lucy's world, but the smile that tugged at her face assured him that didn't matter at all. Sensing he was no longer in immediate trouble, he moved back over to join her at the tree, resigned to spending forever decorating it.

Although that didn't stop him from trying to speed up the process anyway.

"Natsu..." Lucy groaned as he hung a dozen or more ornaments on his fingers.

"What?" He grinned, "It's faster this way! I don't have to mess with the boxes now!"

Lucy rolled her eyes but shook her head and let it go. At least he wasn't smashing them into the center of the tree anymore. She'd had to rescue more than one already.

"Why don't you put up the garland and stuff for the walls and windows after that batch?" She suggested, hoping maybe that would keep him out of trouble enough for her to finish her work on the tree itself.

"Okay!" He agreed happily enough, taking extreme care with the ornaments he currently had hanging from his fingers; much to Lucy's surprise.

It still amazed her how careful and gentle her bulldozer of a dragon could be when it was something she cared about.

It occurred to her that Natsu may have never celebrated Christmas before. After all it was a distinctly human tradition even by this world's standards. The attention he was taking was no doubt because of her.

The thought made Lucy feel like she'd suddenly gulped a warm mouthful of hot chocolate. Heat travelled all the way from her toes to her cheeks as Natsu got himself wrapped in garland and headed to the window. He really was sweet when he wanted to be, and she couldn't help taking a few moments to enjoy that knowledge. Or admire the figure he cut as he got to work.

He balanced on the backrest of the couch, light from the window ghosting over his sharp features. His arms stretched overhead, a thick canopy hanging between his hands while the white light of reflecting snow shone from the window onto his rosy hair. Thoroughly distracted from her own task by the sight, Lucy just watched him in the calm of their apartment filled with quiet music.

It was peaceful. So much so, Lucy knew it couldn't last forever. However, she was sure going to enjoy it while it did. She set a spindly ornament down onto an outstretched branch before walking over to him and put her arms round his middle.

He looked back at her with surprise for just a second before he grinned and looked ahead, "What's the matter Lucy? Want me back on tree duty already?"

"Absolutely not." She teased.

She nuzzled his back softly, unable to reach higher with him perched on the couch like that, "Just... thanks. For everything."

He stilled for a moment and she smiled when he covered her hand with his, "You're my queen Lucy." He rumbled softly as if that explained everything.

Perhaps it did.

Her smile widened a little, and she opened her mouth to respond, only to be interrupted as the door to their apartment nearly burst off its hinges.

"Wha-?!" She yelped as she jumped in surprise. Unfortunately, she was still holding onto Natsu when she did, and his yelp joined hers as she unbalanced him and they tumbled to the floor in a tangled heap.

"The hell're you two doin' on the floor?" A voice rumbled with an audible smirk.

"Gajeel..." Natsu growled warningly as Lucy groaned and buried her face into Natsu's back since her hands were still tangled up.

"Stop being crude!" Levy's voice spoke up scoldingly at the same time a soft, "Oh no! Are you two okay?" Could be heard.

"Just a little bruised." Lucy replied, looking up to smile at Wendy's worried face, "You guys scared me."

"That's Erik's fault. He wanted to surprise you." Yukino sighed as she stepped around the cackling poison dragon, "Sting, honey," She smiled dangerously at her equally amused husband, "Why don't you and I help Wendy untangle those two hm?"

Lucy stifled a snicker, and shot Yukino a grateful look as soon as Natsu was able to get off her and help her up.

"What d'you guys want?" Natsu asked rudely, his arms crossing over his chest while making no attempt to hide the fact he was glaring at Gajeel.

"Relax," Erik slithered in, expression amused, "We aren't here to interrupt you and your Queen with your tacky decorations."

"Tacky?" Lucy protested, shooting Erik an angry glare to match Natsu's. Much to her fury, he looked unimpressed.

"We need to steal Salamander for a bit, shouldn't take long. Maybe a couple days at most." Gajeel grunted and swept forward to drag Natsu in a headlock.

"What? Can't it wait?" Natsu protested, trying to shake off his nestmate's heavy arm, "Lucy and I were busy!"

"Yeah it sure looked like it," Sting quipped.

He whined promptly when his twin smacked a fist to the back of his head with a growl for him to keep his comments to himself.

"I'm afraid not, the lightening dragon has agreed to come out of hiding, but only for a short while. He wishes to speak to END to ensure the rumors are true," Rogue murmured.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, "Laxus is really going to meet with you?"

Gajeel nodded, "I've been talkin' to him off an' on since that lacrima call. He's been sniffin' around on his own too since then. He's probably caught up on all the local news by now an' is thinkin' of testin' the waters."

He glanced at Natsu, "He's agreed to meet on the border. In neutral territory."

"Smart of him." Natsu acknowledged, "We can't attack him there unless he attacks us first."

"You better not have any plans of attacking him at all!" Lucy huffed severely, "He's Master Makarov's grandson, and it's past time he was allowed to come home!"

Natsu shifted slightly guiltily at that, but shook his head, "Ain't that easy Luce. You remember how hard it was buildin' the nest we've got. It'll be twice as hard with Laxus." He met her eyes, "He'll still consider this _his_ territory, and he won't want to submit to any drake. Especially me. There's a chance he could attack. And if he does we gotta show him how strong the nest is. Even if it means beating him up."

"But..." Lucy protested, but fell silent as Levy laid a hand on her arm.

"It's dragon politics Lucy." She explained to her friend, "I want the Master to see Laxus too, but they have to work it out the dragon way."

"I know." Lucy sighed, "I just..."

Natsu wrapped his arms around her, "I promise we'll do our best." He rumbled in her ear and grinned as he pulled away, "Can't think of a better present for Gramps right?"

Lucy smiled and nodded, "Definitely not." She agreed and nudged him, "Go on then. The sooner you go to your meeting the sooner you can come back with good news!"

He bit his lower lip, his fingers curling into a fist around her hand. Guilt coursed through him that he would probably miss the special holiday Lucy loved so much doing this. He bowed his head and gently captured her lips in an apologetic kiss. Nor did he release her, his lips coaxing themselves against hers lovingly, until he drew out a contented sigh of pleasure.

"I'll see you soon Luce. Promise," Natsu vowed.

Yukino sighed and settled in next to Lucy and Levy. Wendy, despite her age, bunched herself with the other dragons making her intent on accompaniment clear.

None of the other dragons argued her being there though, so with murmured goodbyes the dragons left, taking Natsu with them.

And as happy as Lucy was that another piece to Natsu's dark past was possibly getting repaired...

She was unhappy that it meant spending the holiday without him.

-::-

Several hours later Lucy smiled as she waved goodbye to Yukino and Levy. They'd stayed over for the rest of the day and helped her finish the decorating between rounds of hot chocolate and talking, but though her two friends had done their very best to cheer her up it wasn't quite enough.

Natsu still wasn't back yet, and even though she kept telling herself she shouldn't expect him to be back so soon, she couldn't stop herself from looking at the clock restlessly as she closed the door. Ten pm. Only two hours until Christmas and she was all alone. Again.

She shook her head and sternly reminded herself that it wasn't the same at all.

She had just said goodbye to two of her best friends, once she would see tomorrow at the guild for their celebration, and she knew Natsu would be here if he could.

That didn't stop her from sighing a little as she wandered back into the kitchen. The table should've been groaning under the weight of all the food she'd nervously worked on all day. She, Natsu, and Happy should've been sitting around it laughing and pulling crackers as they ate. They should've been enjoying the mulled cider she'd set to cooking so long ago and settling down in front of the lacrimatron for a movie.

Instead the food was being kept warm in the oven as she ladled herself a mug of cider and wrapped up in a blanket. She wasn't really feeling hungry so she put on a movie and sipped her cider, but her heart wasn't really in it.

She kept imagining Natsu snuggling with her and his hands sneaking places they shouldn't with Happy around while he stole sips from her mug.

It was wholly depressing.

She sighed a little and did her best to push her longing away. Natsu would be back, and once he was they could do all the things she was thinking about. It wasn't the end of the world that he missed Christmas Eve. With luck he'd make it back in time for Christmas Day, and they could open presents and laugh and act like kids.

She smiled at the thought and settled in to watch her movie with a lighter heart.

As time ticked by, Lucy's eyelids fell heavy in front of the television. Her mug tipped sideways, growing slack in her hand. And just before it tipped over onto the carpet, a warm hand closed over her fingers and pulled the mug from her grasp. It jolted her from her sleep, but one look at the green eyes staring down at her with affection had Lucy relaxing.

Natsu bent in front of her, crooked smile lighting his face in the dim lights of their tree and the LT. "Hey, didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay, you're back," Lucy smiled at him.

"What time is it?" She continued, arching her back and straightening.

"Couple of minutes before midnight," Natsu smiled at her and twisted around to flop down next to her. He smelled faintly like charcoal and barbecue, which lent Lucy to believe a fight _had_ broken out.

"How did it go?" Lucy asked, shifting to roll her head onto his shoulder.

"Not good at first," Natsu had to grace to admit. His cheeks colored and he shifted, "We got into a pretty bad fight just me and him at first."

"But then something changed?"

Natsu nodded, "Yeah. I got so impatient with the fight because I wanted to get back home to you that I told him I had better things to do than walk around him in a circle for the rest of the night. My queen was waiting."

He shrugged, "Then it was suddenly like he didn't care about the fight anymore."

Lucy smiled and leaned closer to plant a kiss on his cheek, "You confirmed what he'd been hearing then. What happened after that?"

Natsu grinned at her, "Nothing too exciting. We talked a little, and worked out a deal. Until he joins the nest he's only allowed in our territory under supervision."

"Will you let him join?" Lucy asked curiously, pleased already by the concession Natsu was giving Laxus.

"Not yet." Natsu replied, "Even after tonight there's still bad blood there. It's gonna take time to get to a place I'd trust him as part of the nest."

Lucy nodded and snuggled closer, "But you made the first step." She replied, "I'm very proud of you for that. And Master Makarov will get to see his grandson again." She smiled, "The rest will settle down in its own time."

Natsu grinned back at her and moved to kiss her, but missed as she slithered away and got to her feet, "Now c'mon." She grinned, holding out her hand to him, "I left dinner warming in the oven. You must be starving after that trip."

Natsu's grin widened as he let her pull him to his feet, "I noticed. Smells delicious."

"It better be!" Lucy laughed, "I spent all afternoon cooking just to have something to keep me busy!"

Natsu's eyes widened a little at the implication and instead of following her lead into the kitchen he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. He buried his face in her neck and pressed a lingering kiss against the hollow of her throat, his hand sweeping away the hair across the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry I worried you." He mumbled into her skin.

She smiled and leaned back against him, "It's alright. You're back home now. That's all that matters."

Natsu's heart melted at the warm tenderness, and he tightened his grip.

"Merry Christmas Lucy," He breathed to her. His hands dropped to rest at her hips, his nose dipping onto her temple.

She turned in his arms, hands leaning into his chest and her eyes lifting to his face. Natsu smiled at her, his attention fully absorbed on her.

"Merry Christmas Natsu," Lucy breathed back at him.

They waited a beat, the seconds bleeding over into a new day. Lucy pressed her hand into the back of Natsu's neck, dragging her dragon in to a warm kiss.

It wasn't how she'd wanted to spend her first Christmas Eve with him, but somehow it felt exactly right for it to be like this. A little more of Natsu's past had been healed, and Laxus and Master Makarov were both getting the best Christmas present imaginable.

But most importantly, they were together in time for the holiday. A holiday that was a very far cry from the one she'd celebrated last year.

And that alone was enough to make this the best Christmas ever.


End file.
